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Archive for the ‘scd’ Category

I’ve been making some great SCD recipes from Raman Prasad’s new cookbook. I’ve been on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) for 2.5 years, and I’m amazed at how easy it is to keep a varied menu despite the restrictions. This new cookbook gives me all kinds of new options! It has an international selection, including Ethiopian Chicken!! With a recipe for SCD berbere.

Here’s a photo that I took of the cheviche recipe. We’ve also made bean burritos, hazelnut pancakes, and a couple of fantastic dips and sauces. We tried fresh limeade with mint, too. The photos in the cookbook are beautiful, Lily and I spent a morning making a list of all the recipes to try.

Quick, easy, delicious summer food.

If you’re looking for SCD recipes and info, here are some great sites.

#1~In my years teaching 8th grade Spanish, one of my very favorite students was named Russell. This name morphed into Brussell, and by the end of the year we just called him Sprout. Wonder where he is now?

#2~My children recently entertained a woman in the produce section of Whole Foods by begging me to buy brussels sprouts for dinner. While they were pleading, I was feigning resistance, multiplying the desire of the kids. You would have thought they were asking for jelly beans.

#3~I actually had this conversation with my vegetable-hating sister on the phone:

Not bad for a “restricted diet”! I first tried the cashew bread from Eat Well, Feel Well
a couple of months ago. The author describes how she makes 3 loaves at a time, because her family loves it so much. I get it now…it’s so delicious!

I also made white bean ice cream this week from Breaking the Vicious Cycle. It was completely worth the 2-day effort, and my daughter ate every bite. I modified the recipe a bit by making yogurt with heavy cream, and I added pureed strawberries to the mix. I used a Cuisinart ice cream maker to freeze it. Wow–who would think that white beans would give it just the right texture?

Tonight I’m making a lasagna with zucchini “noodles”, and brussels sprouts with a brown butter and pecan sauce. Tomorrow’s dinner will be SCD Burgers from Grain-Free Gourmet.

We’ve been on this diet for 2 years, and I’m amazed at how new ideas come up. We go through phases of liking the same treats, and now there are several new cookbooks I need to add to my shelf which will offer more inspiration.

For those of you who don’t know, Lily and I follow the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. (Lily calls it the Pacific Turbohydrated Diet) It’s a diet designed to help those with intestinal disorders heal. Many people have found their lives changed after trying the diet, after suffering from Crohn’s, colitis, Celiac, and other digestive diseases. Even some parents of children with autism have had success with the diet.

Lily and I both have Celiac disease. I’ve been sick since I was 13. At that time (almost 30 years ago), Celiac was not on the radar for most docs. After a bunch of tests, I remember a doctor suggesting to my family that I was anorexic. You see, I got sick every time I ate. So it was easier to not eat.

I had periods of my life where I felt well, without digestive issues. Occasionally it would flare, and I would seek the opinion of yet another doctor. I heard many possible issues: spastic colon, IBS, nerves, etc. I was told again and again that “you’ll just have to live with it”. Living with it wasn’t an option–chronic diarrhea, painful, bloated guts, and constantly feeling worn out from it. After the birth of Lily, my symptoms flared to the point that I could barely leave the house. If I had an appointment, I would have to not eat for the 24 hours prior so that I wouldn’t have an “attack” mid-appointment.

I reunited with an old friend in the middle of this flare, and she suggested her naturopath. Within 10 minutes of me crying in her office, she ordered a test for gluten intolerance. A simple blood test showed that this was the problem. She told me I had to give up gluten, and I cried I was so pleased that I could have some control. We noticed that Lily, then 2, also had some wheat/gluten intolerance signs, so the two of us went gluten-free.

My health improved quickly and steadily for about a year. Then I started having relapses, and Lily developed a tic disorder. It turns out that I had done a lot of damage to my gut in all those years of eating wheat. In my quest to heal myself and my daughter naturally, I came across Elaine Gottschall’s book Breaking the Vicious Cycle which details the diet. I continue to improve on it, and within a few months, Lily was tic-free. And continues to be.

So, we don’t eat grains, sugar, or potatoes. We do eat plenty of healthy food, and always focus on what we can have, not what we’re missing. I cook a lot. It’s worth it. I’ve added a few SCD blogs to the blogroll, and created a category for SCD posts. Here are a couple of samples of what we’ve had recently: